Aws Acknowledged But Brakes Kick In Anyway

Hi all,
I am driving the AP Class 444 from Waterloo to Portsmouth and a few times during this journey my AWS alarm has gone off.
Sometimes, i acknowledge it and that's that until the next time, but a few times, i acknowledge within a second or two and the emergency brakes kick on anyway.
Is there such a thing as being too quick to respond? literally just a second or two and sometimes i come screeching to a halt anyway.
What am i doing wrong?
Had a great run driving/racing a real life service and ended up a few minutes late overall because of this (not too bad but still!).
Thank you for your time.

 

Rev
AFAIK that loco has a DSD/DVD - and "E" disables it (like "Q" for AWS) and CTRL + D turns it off. (page 3 - Manual)
I'm pretty sure it also has DRA which you turn off with "Y" before setting off.

 

Hi, Thanks for your reply! yes the 444 does have those and I use them no problem, the issue is even after i acknowledge the AWS within a second or two, it engages the brakes anyway.
I only found out about the 'E' function by re reading the manual as i was constantly having to look down and reapply the pedal!
I did read about others having issues starting because the DRA was on so i was prewarned!

 

Rev

Yes, it is time-related so that could be the issue. Have you tried the "E" key at the same point?

 

Yup, using that no problem, it's the AWS alarm that i am having problems with.
I don't use them at the same time as i can tell which is which and press "E" or "Q" appropriately.
In another post, i was talking about how i want to keep Train Simulator as immersive as possible and not use shortcuts, but those "E" and "Q" shortcuts save so much time as i was getting the brakes kick in by the time i physically moved to the button/pedal!
I remember reading somewhere that the AWS must be acknowledged within 3 seconds so why it still triggers when only 2 seconds at most has gone by the time i hit "Q" i don't know.
Next run i will try them both each time one of them goes off and see what happens.

 

The DRA would not cause a problem when Driving as you cannot take power if it is switched on

When you do your next trip use CTRL+D and that Isolates the DSD/DVD - the only alarm is the AWS
You spot the magnet in the track if approaching a signal that is not green or a warning for a speed change
If you are still getting used to the signals this might help


Peter

 

So Peter749 - you do quite a bit of editing TS files do we know which file sets the number of seconds we have to respond to cancel an AWS warning. Surely, it has to be set somewhere?

 

Mind if i take this question. The time is in the EngineScript.out (compiled lua), sometimes named differently.

Here's an example lua code:

Code:

function OnCustomSignalMessage ( arg )
   DebugPrint ( ( "DEBUG: OnCustomSignalMessage arg:" .. arg ) )
   if ( gIsExpert ) then
       if ( arg == "1000" ) then
           Call ( "*:SetControlValue", "AWS", 0, 1 )
           Call ( "*:SetControlValue", "AWSWarnCount", 0, 1)
           gTimerValue = TIMEOUT_1000
           gTimerActive = 1
       elseif (arg == "2000" ) then
           local canPass = Call ( "GetRequestedSPAD" )
           DebugPrint ( ( "DEBUG: OnCustomSignalMessage: canPass " .. canPass ) )
           if canPass == 0 then
               Call ( "*:SetControlValue", "EmergencyBrake", 0, 1)
           end
       end
   end
end

This example is for german PZB. The TIMEOUT_1000 parameters is set to 8 seconds in the script (not visible here).
This works the same way for AWS (which is simpler as it only has one trigger as opposed to 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz magnets in Germany)

 

Torf
Many Thanks!
pH

 

While I'm here, you could add the possibility to turn it off like the Vigilance alerter. You must add a ControlContainer blueprint entry defining a switch (does not have to be a visual object in the cab) for AWS on/off to the Engine.bin and add key definitions to InputMapper .bin. You could copy that from a US loco which has that feature.

 

749006
Thank you for the video link, i don't know how i didn't find that already! very informative stuff!

 

I much prefer having the AWS working - got used to it over the 28 years as Traincrew
But you always had your hand over the button as you went over an AWS ramp

 

Me too. And PZB (if it's correctly scripted) is mandatory.

 

I'm having a similar problem on the same route: AWS alarm is triggered, I try to acknowledge it using Q but the brakes kick in anyway. Even when the train comes to a halt, I can't acknowledge AWS using Q or the yellow round button in the cab (nothing happens). So far, it's occurred twice in the same place, just as I headed out from Petersfield. Any ideas?

I'm not sure if the OP problem was solved in the thread above?

 

If you have a problem and the last post was more than a YEAR ago it is worth starting a new thread

I have no idea if the problem was solved
Is it the AWS sounding or the DSD?
Neither Q or the Yellow button will cancel the DSD alert - use the E key.
Or you could isolate the DSD with Ctrl+D

 

Are you resuming the scenario, timsc, or starting it fresh? I’ve seen weird things happen with many of the units if you resume an already commenced scenario.